


But if this man came up to me

by stealing-jasons-job (changingthefairy_tale)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, And Clarke could burn toast, Bellamy is a damn good cook, Bellarke, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Roommates, Social Media AU, This is 6k words of self-indulgent fluff and I'm not sorry about it, TikTok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27146128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/changingthefairy_tale/pseuds/stealing-jasons-job
Summary: The one where Clarke and Bellamy accidentally go viral on TikTok. And maybe kinda sorta fall in love in the process.***Written fort100fic4blm initiative!
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 55
Kudos: 393
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	But if this man came up to me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nvermindiseeyou](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=nvermindiseeyou).



Octavia had finally convinced Clarke to download TikTok, and Clarke had quickly become obsessed with the app. It was reminiscent of Vine, which she’d used regularly in its prime, but with a better setup for discovering new content. She loved the different names people had come up with for the different “sides” of TikTok — she’d found herself on “bi disaster” TikTok, which seemed fitting, with some political TikTok mixed in with some “KinkTok,” and a dash of cooking TikTok. 

Bellamy still refused to download the app, despite the fact that she and Octavia had finally bugged him to the point of him getting an iPhone and dispensing with that ancient Blackberry he’d had forever. But that just meant that Clarke constantly tossed her phone to him when she came across a particularly funny video she wanted him to see. 

Her new roommate took it in stride, humoring her when she leaned across the counter to show him whatever had popped up on her For You page. They’d finally crossed the threshold into true friendship from whatever odd version of close acquaintanceship they’d been prior. 

Moving in together had been practical, the logical move. Octavia, who’d lived with Bellamy for as long as Clarke had known the Blake siblings, was moving in with her boyfriend Levitt. It was the first guy she’d been really serious about since her first love Lincoln, who’d died tragically during their sophomore year of college. The whole friend group l really liked him and agreed that he was good for the headstrong Octavia, so they were encouraging this next step. 

Clarke’s lease had been up, and Bellamy had been short a roommate. So of course it made sense that she’d moved in. Even though they’d known each other since Octavia and Clarke’s freshman year of college, they’d never exactly been close friends. She was close to Octavia, and so she saw a lot of Bellamy as a result. But he stayed at the periphery of their friend group for the most part. 

That had changed rather quickly upon Clarke moving in. They were both homebodies, which meant they saw a lot of each other. And Bellamy was an amazing cook. This meant Clarke never passed up the chance to eat a Bellamy-made dinner at the apartment. 

Over the past few months, the time they were forced to spend together had endeared them to each other in a way they’d never been in the past. And that meant that Clarke felt comfortable sliding her phone across the kitchen island while he was cooking dinner one night to show Bellamy this video of a woman talking through the different egg personality types. 

The woman in the video made a passionate argument that type #3 was the most logical type because it was even weight distribution and called types #1 and #2 chaotic. Clarke knew for a fact that Bellamy was, in fact, a type #1. And she could not wait to hear his response. 

“No, no, no,” he started, shaking his head as soon as the video really started going. “How is taking eggs out of the carton  _ in order like a normal person _ chaotic?” 

Clarke just raised her eyebrows in amusement, staying silent in the hopes that he’d continue. And oh, he did not disappoint. Bellamy continued stirring his signature spaghetti sauce absent-mindedly as he ranted. It was hysterical to Clarke how he could passionately argue literally anything relating to food. 

Octavia would've found it hilarious — and Clarke knew she missed living with her brother even if she was happy with Levitt and their new place — so she took her phone back from where it sat forgotten on the counter to covertly record part of his rant. 

“What kind of person places their eggs in the fridge in such a way that gravity or weight distribution matters? Are they balancing their eggs on a mountain of other food?  _ That  _ is chaotic energy, not the entirely logical method of pulling eggs out in order from one side of the carton to the other, the way God fucking intended.” 

Clarke flipped the camera to record her supportive nod. “You tell em, Bell,” she said, her eyes darting to the camera as she tried not to laugh. She sent the video to Octavia, who replied back in all caps _ I SAW THAT VIDEO! PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DUET IT WITH HIS RESPONSE I AM DYING  _ 😂😂😂

It  _ was _ an adorably funny video, so she decided to do it. If Bellamy hated it, she could always delete it later. While he barely used social media, he was never opposed to being featured on any of his friends’ profiles, so surely he wouldn’t get too mad. 

***

Clarke knew that TikTok had a way of encouraging viral content, but she never figured that one of her videos would go viral. And certainly not the one of Bellamy she’d mainly posted as a joke. 

But within 24 hours, Clarke’s app notifications were blowing up. People were commenting everything from agreeing with his assessment that type #1 was by far the superior method of egg carton organization to thirsting over him to laughing about Clarke’s reaction. Someone had even taken the last bit of her going “You tell em, Bell,” and turned it into its own sound used at the end of other videos of people ranting about random things. 

Octavia thought it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard, and she encouraged Clarke to keep doing it. Bellamy ranted about literally everything, all the time. It was a quality Clarke found amusing and rather cute to be honest. And so Clarke reasoned that it was harmless. 

The next video she took was of him raving about the new tomatoes he’d gotten at the farmer’s market. Bellamy may be a high school history teacher by day, but he was a passionate chef in his spare time. And he could obsess over fresh ingredients for hours. 

“There’s just something about a tomato picked from the vine by someone who knows what they’re doing. The flavor is better, the texture… It’s all about being patient about when to pick the crop,” he was talking with his hands, which meant waving the knife he was using to cut them wildly. But he had that small smile on his face and his eyes were wide with what Clarke had come to recognize as the expression he wore when talking about something he loved. 

She flipped the camera around to share her own grin before switching it back to catch the rest of his speech, as if she was sharing a secret with the viewer. Which, she guessed she sort of was. 

“Large farms do everything in batches because that saves them labor costs and gives them a bigger harvest. But these smaller farms and local gardens? They are patient, only picking them when they’re perfectly ripe.”

He picked up a slice and handed it to her, and the camera caught her taking the slice before he bit into his own. “See? So much better than that shit you get at Walmart,” he’d said with a smug grin that Clarke found just a little irresistible. 

That second video got even more hype than the first. 

_ God, the way I wish someone would talk about me the way this guy talks about fresh tomatoes _ , one comment read. Clarke had laughed out loud at that one, screenshotting it to send to Octavia. The other Blake had just sent back about 10 laughing emoji faces. 

She got caught while recording the third video. 

Bellamy had come home wanting to try some new pasta sauce but couldn’t because they were out of garlic cloves. Clarke had pulled out her phone to subtly record. 

“Why can’t you make the sauce?” she asked, giving a quick glance to where her camera was hovering right above the countertop to catch his response. 

“Because we’re out of garlic cloves,” he huffed, rummaging through the cabinets to find a suitable replacement for dinner. Clarke figured they’d end up ordering from her favorite Thai takeout place once he was done being salty about them needing to go to the grocery store, but she egged him on for the sake of the video. 

“And why can’t you just use the minced garlic in the fridge?” she asked, knowing exactly why he wouldn’t just use the minced garlic in the fridge. 

“Clarke, we’ve talked about this. Fresh garlic is always better for sauces. There’s a level of flavor you just can’t get from the prepackaged — hey, are you recording me?” Clarke had been too busy watching her screen, zooming in closer to get a better shot of his rant that she didn’t have time to react to him turning around suddenly. 

“I’ve been caught. Mission abort,” she hastily commented with a shot of her panicked face before shutting off the video. 

“You  _ were _ recording me,” he accused, though he thankfully seemed more amused at the thought than angry. She’d felt a little guilty about continuing to post videos, but Octavia had convinced her it would be fine and that Bellamy would take it in stride. Hopefully, his sister was correct. 

“So...don’t be mad,” Clarke started, hopping off her stool to come around the island toward him. He looked at her dubiously, and she smiled innocently at him as she approached. 

“That’s a disconcerting way to start a sentence,” he replied, eyebrows raised in amusement. She pulled up her TikTok account with her only two posts — the two videos of him — and handed over the phone. 

“So I sent Octavia a video of you ranting the other day, and she convinced me to put it on TikTok. And it sort of went viral. So then I did another one, and it went even more viral,” she said in a rush as he scrolled through the comments on one of the videos, eyes wide in what Clarke hoped was a good kind of shock and not “I’m going to kick out my roommate for posting videos of me on TikTok” kind of shock. 

When he didn’t say anything thing, Clarke continued. “Please don’t be mad. I can totally take them down if you want. Oh god, what was I thinking posting videos of you without your permission? I mean, we all post stuff on our social accounts like this, but TikTok is a touch more public. I’m totally going to take them down.” She realized she was nervously rambling at that point, but she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling from her mouth. 

“Breathe, Princess,” he said at last, looking up from the phone. One side of his mouth was quirked up as he watched her spiral into a panic, which Clarke took as a good sign as she took his advice and took a deep breath. 

“Yeah, you probably should have asked me before posting, but I’m not mad. Some of these comments are hysterical.” He handed the phone back to her, and she felt relief course through her veins. They’d been getting along so well. She didn’t want him angry with her. “People are really that interested in me ranting about food?” 

_ It probably doesn’t hurt that you look like a Greek god _ , Clarke thought to herself. But she didn’t dare speak that aloud. 

Instead, she scrolled to her favorite one — the one about wanting her boyfriend to talk about her the way Bellamy was talking about tomatoes — to show him, and he laughed out loud. Clarke watched him as the gesture took over his entire face and the sound filled the kitchen around them. She decided that Bellamy Blake laughing was a beautiful sound, one she wanted to hear more of. 

“Does this mean I can keep posting them?” she asked hesitantly, hitting him with her best puppy dog eyes and hopeful smile. 

“What the hell, why not?” he shrugged. A triumphant grin broke out across her face as she went to post the newest video. “But you have to show me when you do from now on,” he pointed a finger at her as she hopped back up on her stool. 

She nodded her agreement, typing in the necessary hashtags on the video as he pulled out the takeout menu to the Thai place she loved just as expected. 

***

It became a thing between them, Clarke recording him for her TikTok videos. She was surprised at his willingness to go along with it, at first. But then again, it was just another part of his personality that she was finding she admired. Bellamy would go all-in on just about anything. He was not someone who did anything half-assed. 

If he was going to cook dinner? It was going to be a damn good dinner. If Jasper came up with some silly drinking game? Bellamy was going to know the rules and beat everyone at the game, no matter how stupid he looked while doing it. If Raven needed backup at the bar to ward off some asshole, Bellamy would play any role she needed him to — jealous boyfriend to embarrassing friend. 

So of course Clarke’s new TikTok account wouldn’t be any different. 

The first video she puts up after being “caught,” is one introducing Bellamy. She hops up on the counter, which she knows annoys him, and starts without preamble. 

“Rapid-fire questions, go. What’s your name?” 

“Batman,” he deadpanned, not looking up from where he was cutting carrots for the soup he was making for dinner. 

“Smartass,” she chastised with a mock glare. “Your viewers want to learn more about you. So...name?” 

Without lifting his head, his eyes shifted to look at the camera from under his lashes, then shifted up to catch her own eyes looking at him expectantly. “Bellamy,” he said at last, apparently deciding to play along. 

“Favorite color?” 

“Blue.” 

Clarke tried to remember that blue was a perfectly normal color for someone to choose as their favorite. It was statistically the most common favorite color, in fact. It couldn’t have any correlation to the color of her irises, or the way he was staring into them at present with that annoyingly smug smirk on his face. 

“Favorite food?” 

“Spaghetti.” 

“Favorite liquor?” 

“Whiskey.” 

“Favorite roommate?” She raised her eyes in challenge at that one, and he laughed when he met her eyes. 

“Casper,” he winked at the camera before wiping his hands off on the towel thrown over his shoulder. Clarke flipped the camera back around to herself to shake her head sadly. 

“You see? This is the kind of treatment I’m subjected to.” The video caught Bellamy’s full-bellied laugh in the background before she stopped recording. 

She posted it, assuming it would take a few days before it picked up steam. But within a few seconds, a notification popped up on Clarke’s screen. 

_ @stealing-jasons-job commented: Cutest couple award goes to…  _

Clarke felt her cheeks warm as she peeked over her phone at where Bellamy was rolling the dough for his pasta noodles for the soup. His mused curls had a streak of flour in it from when he must have pushed his hair out of his face, and he was bopping his head along to some silent song that must be stuck in his head. He looked beautiful. 

She shook her head at the thought, refusing to let her mind go there. No, they were roommates. And maybe friends. But he didn’t think about her like that, and she didn’t think about him like that. Nope, not at all. 

“Need something, Princess?” His voice brought her back to the present, and she hastily hopped off the counter to hide the flush still present on her cheeks. God, she must have been staring at him like a lunatic. Real smooth roommate moves, Clarke. 

“What? Nope, nothing. Um, I’m going to try and get some sketching done before dinner. Call me when it’s ready?” she said cheerfully. Probably too cheerfully, but he didn’t call her on her sudden peppiness as she skipped down the hall toward her room. 

“God, you’re a freak, Griffin,” she mumbled to herself as she plopped herself face-first onto her bed. 

***

Over the course of the next couple of months, their TikTok videos kind of became A Thing™. Octavia thought it was hysterical, as did Jasper and Monty. Murphy thought he could make funnier TikTok videos, and Miller insisted that Clarke was going to get hacked by having the app downloaded onto her phone. 

“Yeah, I’m sure China is just itching to get ahold of Clarke’s secret dick pic collection,” Raven snorted. 

What had started as a joke had quickly turned into something Clarke legitimately looked forward to every week. She’d storm into the kitchen while he was in the middle of cooking something and ask him random questions that she knew would get him riled up. He knew she was recording and doing it on purpose, but it was like he couldn’t help but go off on his tangents when presented with the opportunity. 

The videos mostly featured him and his impassioned speeches about things like the importance of seasoning and how Millennials were giving avocados a bad rep when they were actually so much more versatile than just slicing for toast in the mornings. She’d often include a short clip of her reaction to whatever he was saying, her nodding along or trying not to snicker at his arguments. 

But every now and again, he’d turn the camera around on her. 

She’d stormed into the kitchen per her usual entrance, hopped on the counter, and turned the camera to show him looking through takeout menus. 

“Just thought I’d show proof that he doesn’t actually cook every single night. He is but a mortal like the rest of us,” she joked in a fake accent. He hit her with that signature Bellamy Blake smirk, the corners of his mouth turned up just enough to drive her a little crazy, before quickly reaching out to grab the phone from her hands. 

“As opposed to this monster, who literally can’t make toast without burning it,” he accused, turning the camera around on her. She giggled, unashamed. 

“Which is why I am grateful for such a loving roommate who is so passionate about tomatoes,” she giggled, her hands held up in innocence. 

He flipped the camera back to himself before commenting, “And she complains about  _ her _ treatment.” 

Making the videos was fun, but her absolute favorite part was going through the comments and duets with Bellamy after the fact. He’d been curious about what people were saying about the videos after the first few took off, so Clarke started showing him her favorite responses. 

They’d huddle over her phone as they scrolled through people turning his rants into their own sounds, commenting everything from disagreements with his perspective to jokes about wishing their roommate looked like Bellamy. 

And if Clarke let her shoulder lean into his side a little more than necessary when they were on the couch laughing about the ridiculous things people say on the internet, it was harmlessly platonic. 

*** 

The video of Bellamy accusing Clarke of not being able to make toast led to half the internet begging for a series of Bellamy trying to teach Clarke how to cook. Bellamy, ever the supportive subject of her TikTok videos, agreed.

They start easy, with him showing her how to make mac and cheese from scratch while Octavia records from a kitchen barstool, but it quickly devolves into them bickering about which type of cheese is superior. 

“Sharp cheddar, all the way,” he insisted, hands on his hips and eyebrows drawn together in absolute seriousness. 

“What the hell are you talking about? Gouda is the best.” 

“Have you ever even had gouda, Clarke?” 

“Yes, in  _ your _ mac and cheese. And Google says it’s the most underrated cheese when it comes to cooking. You know how much I love an underdog, Bell,” she stated, matter of fact. 

“This is not She’s the Man, Clarke. You can’t just pick a random cheese as your favorite.” 

“It’s not random! It’s a well-researched opinion. And if Channing Tatum happens to like it, too, then who are we to argue with that?” 

“You’re impossible,” he grumbled, turning back to his pile of shredded cheese on the counter as she turned back to hers. 

“And they say romance is dead,” Octavia snickered from her spot behind the camera. Clarke’s head whipped up at that, eyes wide in horror. It was obvious that O was joking, but Clarke could already feel the blush creep onto her cheeks. She avoided both of the Blake’s eyes and instead turned her focus back to shredding the monterey jack block she was holding. 

O posted the video, her final statement clear as day. Less than 30 minutes later, as the mac and cheese is in the oven to bake the crust, Clarke noticed the first notification pop up on her screen. 

_ @CasperWithAJ(oint) commented: #BellarkeForever  _

She elected not to share that one with the class, even if it was just Jasper being Jasper. 

The video of them bickering was their most popular one yet, which Octavia took as a sign that their cooking lessons needed to continue with her as cameraman and argument mediator. 

Clarke and Bellamy were no strangers to arguing, they’d been bickering about literally everything since the moment they met years ago. And that theme continued to carry over as he tried to teach her how to properly cut veggies and the best way to bake chicken without drying it out. 

She didn’t think she was actually retaining any of the information he was giving her, but it was fun to push his buttons and TikTok was going wild over the videos of them fighting over things like fresh herbs vs. dried and whether Clarke could sew her own finger back on if she accidentally forgot to tuck her fingers while chopping celery. 

One Wednesday, the night they’d unofficially dubbed cooking lesson night, Clarke popped into the kitchen and up onto the counter as planned. Octavia was busy with Levitt, so it was just the two of them. But Bellamy was already in the middle of cutting chicken. 

“You can’t start cooking lessons without the student,” she teased, poking his shoulder when he didn’t at first acknowledge her presence. Her touch must have jolted him out of whatever daydream he must have been caught in, and he turned to look at her then, obviously having been lost in thought. 

“What? Oh, shit, TikTok. I forgot…” he trailed off, looking back toward the half compiled ingredients spread out in front of him. Bellamy’s typical carefree demeanor was gone, replaced with the brooding she hadn’t seen much of in months. Something was obviously up. 

“We don’t have to do a video tonight. What’s wrong?” He didn’t answer immediately. Clarke didn’t want to push, but she was also nosy by nature and genuinely concerned. 

They sat in silence, him staring into the pot on the stove — of what, she couldn’t tell — and her waiting patiently to talk about what was obviously bothering him. 

“Today’s the anniversary of my mom’s death,” he murmured after a while, still not taking his eyes from the pot in front of him. Clarke’s heart broke for him. She knew what that felt like — she was a mess every year on the anniversary of her father’s car crash. 

“Oh, Bell.” Without thinking, she pushed herself off the countertop and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. It wasn’t something they did frequently, the sharing of hugs and admission of personal information, but it felt right to pull him into her embrace. 

He melted into the contact a fraction, his arms hesitantly coming up to return the gesture. After a few moments, Clarke pulled back. “How long ago?” 

Though Clarke and Octavia had been close friends for years, they never talked about the Blake’s mother. From what little knowledge Clarke had picked up over the years, she pieced together that O was pretty young and that Bellamy had essentially raised her after. Clarke couldn’t even imagine what the Blake siblings had been through in foster care, Bellamy trying to take care of his sister while he himself was still a kid. 

“16 years. It’s been a long time, but the day never gets much easier.” 

Clarke just nodded, knowing there wasn’t anything she could say to make it better. 

“I make Adobo every year on the day,” he added, gesturing a little sheepishly to the stovetop. His voice was softer than usual, a little more subdued. Clarke hung on every word, like Bellamy was sharing some priceless secret. She supposed he was, in a way. “It was the only Filipino dish I’d eat as a kid, and it’s the first recipe I learned to make with my mom.” 

“Teach me?” 

He finally looked at her then, his eyes searching hers. She didn’t break eye contact, and the ghost of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. He nodded, turning back to the pot. 

She listened as he explained the difference between normal vinegar and the cane vinegar that he uses for the Adobo. She laughed as he told the story of the time he forgot to take the bay leaves out before serving it one time, and Miller spent 15 minutes coughing one up after accidentally eating one. 

He was using cubed chicken instead of legs and thighs because that’s the way his mom made it, and he taught her how to cut up the chicken just right. She’d nearly chopped off a finger once or twice, but he’d just come up behind her, one hand over hers on the knife and the other folded over her fingers to keep them safe from the blade. 

Afterward, they sat on the floor in the living room and ate, trading stories about their favorite memories of their parents, connecting over the sense of loss that never seems to fully dissipate no matter how many years it had been. 

A TikTok video wasn’t posted that night, but Clarke was okay with that. That cooking lesson felt private, too special to share with the masses. They fell asleep late into the evening, curled up together on the living room couch after laughing and crying and eating their weight in chicken adobo with rice. 

“Thank you,” he said, the quiet words almost slurred with sleepiness. 

“For what?” 

“Not making me do tonight alone.” His breath evened out after that, his arm a comforting weight around her shoulders and his heartbeat a steady thrum under her hear. She smiled into his tshirt as she drifted off, only vaguely aware of the way her own heart warmed at the words. 

*** 

That night marked a definite shift in their relationship. On the surface, things were mostly the same. Clarke still posted TikToks of him teaching her how to cook and his tendency to get on a soapbox about ingredients. Their friends still made fun of their growing TikTok notoriety. They still bickered about literally everything under the sun. 

But their sparring matches were now more teasing in nature, less heated than before. And suddenly they were much more tactile with each other — a hand on her back as he passed behind her in the kitchen, an affectionate ruffle of his curls when she was teasing him, elbows knocking against each other when he was showing her something on the stove. 

They started talking more outside of their TikTok videos, too. Nights when Bellamy didn’t have to grade and Clarke wasn’t on call at the hospital were spent in their living room goofing off with each other. They made fun of Netflix romcoms and worked on puzzles that no one else in their friend group had the patience for. He told her about his students, and she told him about the ER drama at work. 

Their newfound...closeness did not escape the notice of TikTok. They’d always had comments about them being a cute couple or about how they were destined to fall in love. But as they continued to post videos of the two of them, the comments about their relationship increased tenfold. 

_ @Nakeycatstakebathsss commented: I feel like we’re watching a rom-com happen via TikTok, and I’m here for it.  _

_ @QueenOfTheWallFlowers commented: But I love them, your honor. 🥺  _

_ @Burninghoneyatdusk commented: What I wouldn’t give to have someone look at me like that, jfc.  _ _  
_ _  
_ _ @PrincessMechanicVibes commented: I’m going to win the bet @CasperWithAJ(oint).  _ __  
_  
_ __ @CasperWithAJ(oint) commented: NEVER. #BellarkeForever 

Their friends were following along the TikTok saga, too, which meant Jasper had become insufferable about wanting “Mom and Dad” to just fall in love already. Raven, on more than one occasion, mentioned putting everyone out of their misery and sleeping together already. 

Clarke and Bellamy always reacted the same way — laughing off the comments, both on TikTok and from their friends. But Clarke couldn’t help but steal a glance at him every time someone said anything, trying to gauge what he was thinking. As soon as he’d meet her eyes, she’d cover by rolling them as if they were in on some inside joke before quickly looking away.

After one drunken game night with the whole crew, Clarke posted a video of a half-drunk Bellamy making grilled cheese sandwiches at 3 AM.

“What kind of cheese is in those, exactly?” she asked, trying to keep herself from giggling. Bellamy just smirked at her, that lazy lopsided grin that made her insides melt just a touch. That look that she sometimes pretended was just for her. 

“It’s all we have left!” he argued stubbornly, his words just a little slurred from the alcohol. 

“Gouda, ladies and gentlemen. Bellamy is making our drunk grilled cheeses with gouda, _THE SUPERIOR OF THE CHEESES,”_ she announced to the camera, smile triumphant. She devolved into giggles when he reached out to grab her around the waist, pulling her to his chest before snatching the camera away from her. 

“It’s a three-cheese grilled cheese, with cheddar, gouda, and provolone, because we are not  _ heathens _ in this apartment,” he clarified to the camera, very seriously. Both of them couldn’t stop laughing as they ate their sandwiches, Clarke sending the video out into the ether without much thought. 

As retribution, he took a video of trying to wake her up the next morning. Clarke, who had taken the same number of shots as Bellamy but who was decidedly a much smaller human, was determined to sleep in another few hours before Bellamy could drag her out of bed. 

In the video, a very hungover Clarke was burrowed under the blankets as Bellamy dodged the pillows she threw at him to get him to go away. 

“Come on, Princess. Enough beauty sleep, time for breakfast.” At that, she poked out from beneath the blankets just enough for one eye to be seen by the camera. 

“Hangover burritos?” Bellamy had been making hangover burritos for Clarke and Octavia since they were in college and going to frat parties. They were greasy and delicious and Clarke was convinced the best cure for a hangover that existed. 

He nodded, knowing he had her at that, and she grumbled before throwing back the covers to get up. 

“Of course it’s the food she’ll wake up for,” he joked to the camera. 

Her half-asleep voice responded that she’d wake up for his pretty face any day, and the shy smile the camera catches on his face after she said it was nothing short of breathtaking. TikTok went crazy over that one. If she was being honest, she did, too. 

***

“This is starting to get ridiculous, Clarke,” Raven complained as Clarke showed her the newest round of comments on their TikTok videos. 

One woman had used the TikTok sound, “If this man came up to me, I would slap him so hard; But if  _ this man _ came up to me, I would drop my pants so fast,” comparing a screenshot of Gordan Ramsey teaching people how to cook with Bellamy grinning at Clarke while trying to teach her how to make a tex-mex chicken casserole. 

“I know, right? TikTok is hella thirsty.” 

“No,  _ you two _ are hella thirsty. For the love of god, one of you make a move already.” Clarke’s eyes widened at that. Sure, Raven and their friends joked about her and Bellamy getting together, but none of them were serious. 

“Bellamy and I are friends and roommates. TikTok doesn’t know what its talking about,” she deflected easily, taking the phone back to continue scrolling through comments. 

“Look me in the eye and tell me you’re not in love with Bellamy Blake,” her friend challenged. Clarke didn’t look up from the phone, guiltily avoiding Raven’s gaze. 

The thing was, he’d sort of become her best friend, and she admired him. He was dedicated and loyal and wickedly smart and  _ god, such a good cook _ . And he was funny and breathtakingly gorgeous and he put up with her crazy just like put up with his, and yeah maybe she was in love with Bellamy Blake. 

To her credit, Raven didn’t mock her for taking so long to realize it. Instead she just leaned over to nudge Clarke’s shoulder with her own. 

“Make a move, babe. Literally the entire internet can see that he’s crazy about you, too.” 

Clarke was less certain, and she definitely didn’t want to ruin their friendship. It had become one of the best things in her life, and she could live without the romance if it meant keeping him in it. 

But then again, there were those moments when she’d catch him looking at her, that special grin on his face that she never saw him give anyone else. And they talked about things. And they had absolutely zero concept of personal space around each other these days. Surely that wasn’t insignificant, right? 

After debating her options for a few hours — overthinking pretty much every situation that could happen as a result of her telling him how she felt and making a few different mental pro/con lists —Clarke crafted the perfect plan. 

“Hey, there’s a new TikTok trend I want to try tonight. You up for it?” she asked him once he got home from work and had changed into sweats. At this point, he was used to her hair-brained video ideas, so he just shrugged goodnaturedly. 

“Whatever the hell you want, Princess.” 

She set the camera up like she always did to record them together at the stove as he pulled out ingredients for his famous spaghetti. If he noticed her hands were a little shakier than ususal, he didn’t comment. To be honest, he seemed a little distracted, and Clarke hoped that it worked in her favor rather than against it as she clicked on the camera to record. 

“What’d you have in mind?” he asked, coming to stand beside her. He wasn’t looking at her, instead focusing on the ingredients he’d just pulled out for dinner. There was that little crease between his brows that told her that he was thinking about something. 

For a second, she hesitated. Maybe it wasn’t the right time. But then she rationalized that it would probably never be the perfectly right time to tell her best friend and roommate that she’s in love with him. So she took a deep breath, and just went for it. 

“Bell?” When he turned to look at her, she leaned up on her tippy toes, one hand on his cheek, and kissed him. It was quick and soft, just her mouth brushing against his. 

She pulled back, breath held to wait for his response. It took a few seconds for him to react, and a pit started forming in her stomach. She took a step backward, already prepping her speech about how it was for the stupid TikTok trend of kissing your best friend.

But then his body seemed to catch up to his mind, and he reached out to pull her back to him. This kiss was slower, deeper. His hands were framing her face and his hair was soft against her forehead. She couldn’t help the giggle that escaped as he pulled back just an inch. 

“Just for the record, that wasn’t actually for TikTok…” she searched his eyes hesitantly, looking for any sign of panic. But he just gave her that beautiful grin he saved just for her, and she returned one of her own. 

“I’d been working up the nerve to ask you out all day at work. Murphy was ready to murder me by lunchtime,” he admitted, his hands firmly planted on her waist to keep her close. 

“I’d prepped an entire cover story about TikTok trends in case you rejected me.” 

He laughed at that, pulling her in for a hug before pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Princess.” 

They didn’t post the video of them kissing to TikTok, but Bellamy did post a video of her slurping up the last bit of pasta from her face. “You’re lucky I love you,” his voice said in the background, teasing and affectionate. Clarke couldn’t wait to see what TikTok had to say about that one. 

_ @nvermindiseeyou commented: Okay, but I need this to be a Food Network show pls…  _ 🥺💕

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this was 6k of self-indulgent fluff. No, I'm not sorry about it. 💕Thank you for prompting me, Alycia! Come scream with me on Tumblr [@stealing-jasons-job!](https://stealing-jasons-job.tumblr.com/)
> 
> ***
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who nominated and voted for me in the [Bellarke Fic Awards.](https://bellarkeficawards.tumblr.com/) One of my fics is a finalist for Best Grounder AU and Best Canon WIP, and I'm a finalist for Best Emerging Writer. Y'all are phenomenal, and I'm so fucking honored. If you haven't already, make sure to vote in the final round — there are so many amazing fic writers and creators who deserve all the love and support.


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